Intel, Seagate Tech, Finisar

Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trading in Thursday's session is Finisar
FNSR, -2.32%
The maker of fiber optic subsystems and network test systems is expected to report a loss of 6 cents a share for the fourth quarter, according to analysts polled by Thomson First Call.

Hotel and casino operator Mandalay Resort Group
MBG, +0.24%
is seen reporting first-quarter earnings of $1.12 a share.

Analysts expect the world's largest chipmaker, Intel
INTC, -0.66%
to predict second-quarter sales in the top half of its range when the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company discusses how its quarter is proceeding. The mid-quarter update is scheduled to begin after Thursday's regular trading session is closed. See full story.

Ultimate Electronics
ULTE
is expected to report a per-share loss of 30 cents a share for the first quarter.

Computer disk-drive maker Seagate Technology
STX, +0.52%
said it will take a fourth-quarter charge of $50 million and shed almost 2,900 jobs as part of a cost-cutting plan. See full story. In after-hours trading, Seagate shares rose 20 cents to $12.41 after falling 47 cents, or almost 4 percent, in the regular trading session.

Comverse Technology
CMVT
posted its second straight quarterly profit as sales rose nearly 23 percent. In the first fiscal quarter, which ended April 30, Comverse said it earned $47 million, or 3 cents a share, reversing a loss of $5.82 million, or 3 cents a share, a year earlier. See full story. Shares of Comverse rose 27 cents to $17.42 ahead of the earnings report.

Neiman Marcus
NMG
posted third-quarter earnings of $68.9 million, or $1.40 a share, up from $41.4 million or 87 cents a share, a year ago and in line with Wall Street estimates. The clothing retailer said sales came in at $877.6 million vs. $722.9 million a year earlier. Separately, Neiman Marcus said same-store sales for May rose 8.5 percent. Shares of Neiman Marcus closed up 25 cents to $51.48 ahead of the announcement.

CV Therapeutics
CVTX
after it announced an accord with the Food and Drug Administration on special standards for its Ranexa chronic angina drug. The FDA gave Ranexa special protocol assessment status, or SPA, which sets up the design of a clinical trial as well as goals that must be met to gain regulatory approval. Although this isn't fast track status, the SPA process can speed up how quickly a drug is approved. See full story. In after-market action, shares rose 74 cents to $13.95.

Viacom
VIA, +0.39%VIA
said that the chairman of its Viacom Entertainment Group, Jonathan Dolgen, is resigning effective July 15. Word of his departure comes one day after Viacom president and chief operating officer Mel Karmazin stepped down. "Due to the recently announced changes in Viacom's management structure, the time was right for me to step aside," Dolgen said in a statement. See full story. Shares of Viacom ended Wednesday's session up 30 cents at $36.80.

J.P. Morgan Chase
JPM, -0.79%
said that its vice chairman, Donald Layton, is retiring following the completion of the company's merger with Bank One
ONE, +0.00%
Layton was to oversee finance, risk management and technology at the merged company. The responsibility will now shift to Jamie Dimon, who will become president and chief operating officer. Dimon is chief executive of Bank One. See full story. Shares of J.P. Morgan closed up 1.2 percent $37.30 on Wednesday; Bank One shares finished up 1.3 percent to $49.15.

American Eagle Outfitters
AEOS
posted an 11.4 percent increase in same-store sales in May and said it expects to earn between 26 cents and 28 cents a share in the second quarter. The Thomson First Call average estimate is for earnings of 26 cents a share. Consolidated same-store sales for May, which include sales from its Bluenotes/Thriftys stores, rose 10.6 percent. Total sales in May dipped to $5.3 million from $5.5 million. Shares of American Eagle were down 10 cents at $29.01 at the close of trading Wednesday.

American Airlines said that traffic in May rose 9 percent over the same year-ago period, while load factor was down 0.5 percentage points from a year ago, at 73.1 percent. See full story. Shares of American's corporate parent AMR
AMR, -3.26%
closed up 83 cents at $12.18.

Cole National
CNJ, -7.74%
said that its board had agreed to an amendment in its merger agreement with Luxottica Group
LUX, -2.57%
and set July 20 as the date when shareholders would vote on the deal. Cole National said the amendment increases the original $22.50 per-share cash merger agreement consideration by an amount equal to 4 percent per annum from the date on which Cole shareholders approve the merger through its closing date. Cole shares ended Wednesday's session down 7 cents at $22.91, while Luxottica shares added 23 cents to close at $16.18.

Intertape Polymer Group
ITP, -2.91%
said it expects a rise in both second-quarter and full-year sales. For the second quarter, the paper and plastic packing manufacturer is forecasting a 5 percent to 6 percent rise over first-quarter sales of $162.1 million, as well as an increase of 13 percent to 15 percent from sales of $150 million in the second quarter last year. See full story. Shares of Intertape closed down 16 cents, or 2.3 percent, at $6.69.

Copper producer Phelps Dodge
PD, -4.05%
said that it's reinstating dividend payments on its common shares, starting with a 25-cent per share dividend for the third quarter. The dividend is payable on Sept. 3 to shareholders of record at the close of business Aug. 13, the Phoenix-based company said. Low copper prices had forced Phelps to suspend dividends after the Sept. 7, 2001 payment. Ahead of the news, shares of Phelps closed at $66.93, down 2 percent.

Global Signal
GSL, +0.99%
priced its initial public offering of 7 million shares at $18 for proceeds of $126 million. The pricing came in at the high end of the $16 to $18 range. Morgan Stanley and Banc of America led the deal's underwriting. Shares of Sarasota, Fla.-based Global Signal, a real estate investment trust, are due to start trading on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday.

Brooks Automation
BRKS, -1.02%
said that Chairman and CEO Robert Therrien would hand over his CEO duties to Edward Grady, the company's president and COO, Oct. 1. Therrien will remain chairman and will stay on as a consultant to the chip equipment maker following his retirement on Dec. 31. Shares of Brooks ended Wednesday's session down 5.2 percent at $19.40.

Hovnanian Enterprises
HOV, -2.93%
reported second-quarter earnings were $70.5 million, or $1.06 a share, up from $52.6 million, or 80 cents a share, a year ago. Sales for the home construction company rose to $918.8 million from $679.8 million. The Red Bank, N.J.-based firm forecast 2004 earnings growth of 30 percent from last year. Hovnanian forecast earnings per share, excluding charges, to exceed $5.23. Shares of Hovnanian closed up 62 cents to $35.69 ahead of the announcement.

Wednesday's advancers

Shares of Allos Therapeutics
ALTH
soared almost 45 percent after the biopharmaceutical company said it received an "approvable" letter from the Food and Drug Administration covering its RSR13 treatment. The company filed a new drug application for RSR13 as a therapy for people suffering brain metastases that originate from breast cancer. The FDA requires that Allos conduct a 360-patient trial of RSR13 as a condition for consideration of the new drug application. The ongoing Phase III trial will examine if RSR13 treatment results in increased survival for the participants, the company said.

Applied Digital Solutions (ADSX: news, chart, profile) rose more than 13 percent after the Palm Beach, Fla. technology development company announced that six of its officers and directors have bought a total of 36,000 shares in the past week. The officers buying the shares include the company's chief operating officer and chief financial officer.

Briggs & Stratton
BGG, -1.38%
climbed more than 10 percent after saying it would buy outdoor power equipment maker Simplicity Manufacturing for $227.5 million in cash. The company expects the deal to add 35 to 45 cents a share to earnings in fiscal 2005.

U.S-listed shares of Cable & Wireless (CWP: news, chart, profile) moved more than 8 percent higher after the UK group's fiscal 2004 earnings showed some evidence of a turnaround in its operations. Smith Barney analyst Robert Mocatta said he was encouraged by the stabilization in UK revenues and an accelerating headcount reduction which bodes well for future margin expansion. Cable & Wireless posted full-year revenues in the UK of 1.66 billion pounds vs. $1.68 billion in 2003.

Shares of Icad
ICAD, -2.29%
powered more than 15 percent higher after the Nashua, N.H. medical technology company said it has received FDA approval to release its Second Look 200 system, which is designed for the early detection of breast cancer. The Second Look 200, which incorporates the company's Version 6.0 cancer detection software, "can easily analyze up to 15 cases per day, is fully automated, fits on a counter top and is priced below $70,000," said the company.

Shares of flu drugmaker MedImmune
MEDI, +0.28%
ran up almost 5 percent after Morgan Stanley upgraded its rating of the stock from "equal-weight" to "overweight." The firm believes investors are underestimating the cash flow potential of Synagis, and discounting the pipeline.

Shares of Micronetics
NOIZ
moved 28 percent higher after the Hudson, N.H. manufacturer of microwave and radio frequency components reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings that more than doubled over year-ago levels, and sales that surged 41 percent. Chief executive David Robbins said about "two-thirds" of revenue growth in fiscal 2004 can be attributed to the company's commercial products and defense electronics groups, as opposed to growth through acquisition. Robbins added that "based on our current backlog, we are optimistic about our financial performance in fiscal year 2005."

Psychiatric Solutions
PSYS, +300.00%
rallied more than 6 percent after it raised late Tuesday its 2004 earnings per-share forecast after it closed its acquisition of some assets from Heartland Healthcare. The Franklin, Tenn.-based company raised its EPS outlook to $1.08 to $1.13 from the previous range of $1.00 to $1.04. The move follows the psychiatric services firm's acquisition of four psychiatric facilities and an inpatient management contract from Heartland. Psychiatric Solutions said the assets produced revenue of $45 million last year.

Shares of Sco Group
SCOX
shot up more than 18 percent after the Lindon, Utah UNIX technology provider announced it would buy and retire all 40,000 shares of Series A-1 Convertible Preferred Stock currently held by BayStar Capital. The shares of Series A-1 will be retired through a payment of $13 million in cash and the issuance of 2.1 million shares of the company's stock. The agreement includes a restriction on sales and dispositions by BayStar of Sco's stock.

Wednesday's decliners

Brooks Automation (BRKS: news, chart, profile) shares slumped more than 5 percent after Smith Barney started coverage on the stock with a "sell" rating and $17 price target, citing concerns about the lack of momentum in the company's software and automated material handling systems (AMHS). "Key issues for the stock include traction and profitability in AMHS, conversion of captive tool hardware market to merchant opportunity, and growth in software," the brokerage told clients in a note.

Descartes Systems
DSGX, +0.18%
fell almost 7 percent after reporting a fiscal first-quarter adjusted loss that was wider than anticipated. The net loss was $28.9 million, or 71 cents a share, wider than the 17 cents a share in the same period a year ago. Excluding asset impairment charges, the loss was 27 cents a share, vs. the average analyst loss estimate compiled by Thomson First Call of 26 cents a share. Total revenue fell 6.6 percent to $13.3 million, in line with analyst forecasts, while cost of revenue rose 14 percent to $5.47 million.

Shares of eOn Communications (EONC: news, chart, profile) fell nearly 12 percent after the Atlanta, Ga. communications company reported a third-quarter loss of $944,000, or 7 cents per share, down from a profit of $82,000, or 1 cent per share, last year. The company's revenue for the quarter fell to $2.8 million from $4.7 million for the same period a year ago. CEO David Lee attributed the decrease in revenues to delays in orders for the company's "eQueue product."

EPIX Medical
EPIX, -1.42%
slid more than 5 percent after the magnetic resonance imaging pharmaceutical company said late Tuesday that it was privately-selling up to $75 million worth of debt, convertible into common stock. The company said it planned to grant initial debt buyers options to buy up to an additional $25 million worth of the debt. On Wednesday, EPIX said the debt, due 2024, would bear interest of 3 percent.

Fairchild Semiconductor
FCS, +0.38%
fell 7 percent after the chipmaker reiterated its second-quarter sales forecast, and said it was on track to potentially exceed prior peak gross margins during the current cycle, but said continued backlog "volatility" could affect its ability to meet expectations. The chipmaker still expects sales to rise 5 percent over first-quarter levels. The company added that booking activity has been high in areas including TV, power supply, battery charger and handset end markets, while the backlog into those markets has increased from 5 percent to as much as 30 percent since the start of the quarter.

Nortel Networks
NT
slumped more than 6 percent after saying that it was not ready to issue fully-revised financial results going back to 2001. Nortel said it expects to post a loss instead of a profit in the first half of 2003 and that prior-year sales so far remain unaffected. Looking ahead, the company expects sales to grow faster than the overall market.

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